Newswheel staff :: 31 October 2005 :: Filed under Cabriolet, Rolls Royce, Rolls Royce Phantom, Europe & UK, US
US comic, host of the Tonight Show and all round car nut Jay Leno has been let loose in the Rolls Royce 100EX show car. It turns out Leno himself used to wield tools for Rolls Royce (kinda).
Newswheel staff :: 31 October 2005 :: Filed under Fiat, Honda, Peugeot, Renault, Europe & UK
Apparently there’s a price war going on in continental Europe. Margins and profits are being eroded, with Renault, Honda, Peugeot and Fiat all complaining of a poor pricing environment. Try telling that to your average car buyer in “Rip Off” Britain…
Newswheel staff :: 31 October 2005 :: Filed under Hatchback, Mini, Europe & UK, US
After months of speculation, leaks, FUD, falsehoods and fake photoshopped pictures the much-rumoured lightweight Mini has been unveiled. And it’s a bit naff.
Newswheel staff :: 31 October 2005 :: Filed under Europe & UK, Safety
The Euro NCAP assessment programme has totalled another fleet of cars in the name of safety. This time round, several Daihatsu Sirions, Fiat Cromas and Toyota Yarises have been trashed. Like most current models, the cars performed well in terms of adult passenger safety, slightly less impressively for child occupant safety and downright poorly for pedestrian safety.
Newswheel staff :: 29 October 2005 :: Filed under Front engine sportscar, Mid / rear engine sportscar, Roadster, Honda, Honda NSX, Honda S2000, Europe & UK, US
Honda’s chairman of research and development, Motoatsu Shiraishi, has confirmed that both the NSX and S200 will be replaced within the next few years. And guess what? The new NSX will be an all singing, all dancing supercar designed to showcase Honda’s engineering skills and take the fight directly to Porsche and Ferrari. In other news, day followed night and George W Bush announced a war on terror.
Newswheel staff :: 28 October 2005
Have you ever seen a man eat his own head? Neither have we. But we have seen this literally insane video of a 125cc six-speed racing kart tearing through the streets of Quebec City at brain bending speeds. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Spotswood.
Newswheel staff :: 27 October 2005 :: Filed under Front engine sportscar, Ferrari, Ferrari Imola
Our favourite tree-dwelling car snapper, Hans G. Lehmann, has been out and about with the wide angle lens again. This time, it’s US mag MPH picking up the bill for his pics of Ferrari’s next front engine flagship. As MPH points out, this is no chopped and hacked mule based on the 612 Scaglietti. It’s a bone fide development prototype carrying the final sheet metal for the 575 Maranello replacement.
Newswheel staff :: 27 October 2005 :: Filed under Hatchback, Toyota, Toyota Corolla, Europe & UK
It’s been around since Moses built the Ark. They’ve made more of them than any other car in history. And the current model boasts a decent chassis and robust build. But let’s be honest. The Toyota Corolla has never, ever been a car to set your pants on fire. However, this is about to change; step forward the new Corolla Compressor.
Newswheel staff :: 27 October 2005 :: Filed under Four wheel drive, SUV, Jeep, Jeep Wrangler, Europe & UK, US
Following the Jeep Gladiator concept shown at Detroit early this year, rumour had it the next-gen Wrangler would be considerably wider and longer than the existing model. Most significantly, it was suggested a four-door model would join the line up for the first time. Judging by these heavy-disguise, body-clad spyshots, rumour had it just right.
Newswheel staff :: 26 October 2005 :: Filed under Europe & UK, US
Google already dominates the web search business, mops up millions in web advertising, maps the surface of the earth and is even attempting to digitally archive the world’s libraries. But the Beast of Mountain View isn’t done yet. Google has announced another new initiative known as Google Base. As ever with Google, the concept is painfully simple: users will be able to post/upload searchable content of any type. Crucially, one of the usage examples Google has chosen is classified car listings…
Newswheel staff :: 26 October 2005 :: Filed under Saloon, BMW, BMW 5 Series, Europe & UK, US
Just to prove we’re not entirely behoven to BMW’s barges, here’s a less than complimentary story about the current 5 Series. The car has failed the famous Swedish Elk test. Oops. Bung in the fact that the 5 is the proud owner of just four NCAP crash test stars (and rumours BMW needed more than one go at it to avoid a disastrous three-star rating) and the you have a rather worrying all-round safety record.
Newswheel staff :: 25 October 2005 :: Filed under Roadster, BMW, BMW Z4, BMW Z4M, Europe & UK, US
BMW’s M division has been working on a variant of the Z4 roadster. Of course, that’s the worst kept secret since a certain TV-based ginger whinger appeared on our screens one day with an extremely startled expression. But forget Anne Robinson’s drum-tight face lift, because BMW has released the first pictures and details of the new straight-six powered Z4M. Read on – you won’t be disappointed.
Newswheel staff :: 25 October 2005 :: Filed under Front engine sportscar, Nissan, Nissan 350Z, Europe & UK, US
There’s not much wrong with Nissan’s wonderful 350 Z. The rear drive chassis is relatively sophisticated and certainly involving. The V6 is meaty, gutsy and characterful. The styling tough, chiselled but thoroughly modern. And most importantly, the asking price is ridiculously reasonable. There’s very little that comes close for the money. But a little more power wouldn’t do it any harm. Apparently, that’s exactly what it’s getting in the form of a stonking 4.5-litre V8. Sounds almost too good to be true…
Newswheel staff :: 24 October 2005 :: Filed under F1
F1 makes an excellent case for itself as the world’s worst racing series. The drivers are almost uniformly overpaid sourpusses. The series is run by a despotic duo who appear to think they are engaged in a titanic geopolitical struggle for the future of the human race. And of course, the technical and race weekend regulations are a bad joke. But could a new aerodynamic concept (shown above) designed to reintroduce the novel concept of overtaking turn the “sport” around?
Newswheel staff :: 24 October 2005 :: Filed under Estate/Wagon, Saloon, BMW, BMW 3 Series, US
Despite the dodgy Bangle-era styling, it seems the BMW 3 Series remains invincible. US sales figures (BMW’s second largest market) for the new Three have been released and the big news is that there’s no news. BMW’s finest still takes a large stick to the opposition, selling nearly 40 per cent more units than any other car in its class.
Newswheel staff :: 21 October 2005 :: Filed under Audi, BMW, Europe & UK
Here’s a shocking story. Uwe Ellinghaus, marketing director of BMW UK, doesn’t think much of Audi’s cars. In fact, he reckons Audis are nothing more than counterfeit BMWs. And there we were thinking that BMW’s USP was rear-drive purity while Audi sold on the strength of Quattro-derived stability and best-in-class perceived quality.
Newswheel staff :: 21 October 2005 :: Filed under Hatchback, Fiat, Fiat Panda, Europe & UK
Fiat has wheeled out a special edition Panda at the Tokyo show. With a two-tone orange and white paint job and matching interior highlights the Panda Alessi either bravely drops ice cubes down the vest of conventional good taste or suggests the Italian car maker is a few cogs short of a full box. Whatever, the really interesting news is that it’s the real deal. European sales start next spring.
Newswheel staff :: 21 October 2005 :: Filed under Ford, Europe & UK, US
Ford yesterday announced a net loss of $288 million for the third quarter of the current financial year. If that sounds gruesome, try this for size: the company’s car making operations lost a fabulous $1.3 billion dollars, $1.2 billion of which was hosed in North America. Again, all in a single quarter. We know the car business is boom and bust, but this is getting silly.
Newswheel staff :: 20 October 2005 :: Filed under Cabriolet, Coupe, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Eos, Europe & UK
Another in our occasional line of folding-roof fetishising. This time, it’s VW all-new Golf-based coupe-cabriolet (that’s enough hyphens - Ed).
Newswheel staff :: 20 October 2005 :: Filed under Coupe, Front engine sportscar, Lamborghini, Europe & UK
We’re not sure that custom coachbuilt cars will ever make a real comeback, despite the recent efforts of Henrik Fisker. But this fabulous one-off Lamborghini coupe, due to be auctioned in London, is still a timely reminder of a classier age when bespoke tailoring for cars was de rigueur.
|
|
©2005 Newswheel Limited. All rights reserved. Designed and produced by Plum Digital Media. Powered by Matchbox - speed: 0.629 seconds
